'Voice on the shoulder' tells Smith what lies ahead

True to type, Steve Smith was among the last batters to leave the rain-dampened practice nets at Old Trafford on Monday afternoon.

But unlike his previous marathon drills with bat in hand and coaches in agony as he hit ball after ball after ball, searching for the elusive "feel" that reassures him he's ready for match play, Smith's session was broken into distinct parts.

The first saw him pitted against the full complement of Australia fast bowlers who held little back despite the practice pitches offering more than a little spice.

Image Id: https://www.cricket.com.au/~/media/News/2019/09/3Starc-nets?la=en&hash=BA99A5DE707F8EF6489EEA407A09120AE7F4C34B Image Caption: Mitch Starc lets loose in the Old Trafford nets // Getty

The second came after the quicks had completed their stints, and the former skipper had spent some time watching from close quarters, rehearsing his stroke play against imaginary opponents, and even sitting for a while on a garden bench that offered a net-side view.

Then, as the Old Trafford ground staff began anxiously inquiring as to how much longer the visitors' training might last as they had to prepare the nets for England's upcoming session, Smith returned to his routine.

At the far end of the practice pitch was coach Justin Langer, armed with a plastic 'dog thrower' that's used to propel the ball with heightened speed, who immediately simulated short-pitched deliveries which Smith comfortably avoided.

It provided a telling snapshot of the sort of reception Smith is expecting from England's fast bowlers – and in particular, their fastest, Jofra Archer – when he makes his return to Test cricket in the fourth Ashes match that begins at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Image Id: 7A365D00AB1D4AD181D1183B2BA41A8E Image Caption: Jofra Archer crosses the line at England training // Getty

Another of those rival quicks, Stuart Broad, revealed that Archer will be desperate to resume his battle with Smith having put him out of the second Test at Lord's and the third at Headingley after striking him on the neck with a frightening bouncer.

"Test cricket is a brutal sport, it's a sport that countries go hell for leather against each other," Broad said while Smith was batting in the Old Trafford nets on Monday.

"I'm sure when Steve comes in, Jofra will be in Rooty's (England captain Joe Root) ear wanting the ball, no doubt about that.

"That's the intensity Test cricket brings, it's the theatre we talk about.

"I might be stood at mid-on, but I'll be excited when Jofra asks for that ball and Steve comes in."

While Langer filled the role of England's pace attack during Smith's half-hour hit-out, he also understood what the 30-year-old ex-captain was looking to achieve, and also (to a large degree) how he felt.

Langer played in an era before concussion substitutes and when most players believed the simple act of donning a protective helmet rendered them immune from serious injury if hit by the ball.

Had the new rule – that recognises the grave immediate and longer-term effects of concussion and allows for players diagnosed with such to be removed from a game – been in existence when Langer arrived in Test cricket, he would have likely been substituted out of his first match.

That was in 1993 when towering West Indies quick Ian Bishop hit him flush on the helmet in fading light at Adelaide Oval, where Langer bravely batted on to score 20 runs in more than an hour and a half in his maiden innings.

Thirteen years later, in his 100th Test match at Wanderers, Langer was hit on the side of the head by the first ball he faced and spent the next two days so unwell he was unable to leave his Johannesburg hotel room.

So the men's team coach has an acute understanding of what Smith will be feeling when he gets to the middle of Old Trafford and sees an England fast bowler at the top of his run-up.

Image Id: https://www.cricket.com.au/~/media/News/2016/06/3Langer100?la=en&hash=A4545AC281B16B9845B5778BB169B5BD32590186 Image Caption: Langer is felled by Makhaya Ntini in his 100th Test in 2006 // Getty

"It's not just Archer, it's all the bowlers," Langer said about the understandable anxiety Smith will face in his return to Test cricket.

"When you get hit, it's always a little voice on your shoulder.

"I also know about Steve Smith, and the really good players, you've got to have strategies to score runs and not get out – it's the same to not get hit.

"You've got to have a good strategy, and he (Smith) works the game out better than anyone I've ever met in my life.

"He would've thought long and hard about it. If anyone's going to get over any little demons, it'll be Steven.

"He's faced lots of short-pitched bowling in his life."

Langer noted that for the duration of Smith's nets session at Old Trafford, the right-hander's reflexes were characteristically sharp and his feet moved well.

What will remain unknown until the fourth Test gets underway and Smith takes his turn to bat is how quickly he will be able to recapture the sublime form that allowed him to dominate the three innings before he was withdrawn at Lord's, with scores of 144, 142 and 92.

Langer understandably expressed his hope that his premier player will get "back into the zone" and unerringly find the middle of the bat with almost every stroke, as was the case at Edgbaston and Lord's prior to his injury.

But with equal partisan predictability, Broad suggested the rare touch that Smith found himself in earlier in the series might not be so easy to reprise.

And he reiterated that any upcoming battery of bouncers from England's quicks would be explicitly unleashed to claim Smith's wicket, not to damage his person.

"We've not bowled at him since Lord's and he's had a period without batting, which is a bonus for us," Broad said.

"Every time a batsman looks in great rhythm, a period of time out of being in the middle could affect them.

"I think there's been a bit of to and fro between him and Jofra., so Jofra will be excited to continue that battle.

"You bowl a bouncer, not to hit someone in the head, you bowl a bouncer to manoeuvre footwork and change momentum of bodyweight.

"But your best bouncer is directed over leg stump, and at the head unfortunately.

"The dream is someone nicks him (Smith) off first ball, and Jofra doesn't get to bowl at him.

"But there will be a period in this game where those two come together again, and touch wood I'm on the pitch to view it."

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

England squad: Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes (vc), Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

First Test: Australia won by 251 runs at Edgbaston

Second Test: Match drawn at Lord's

Third Test: England won by one wicket at Headingley

Fourth Test: September 4-8, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: September 12-16, The Oval